1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for crushing cans for recycling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recycling of cans, and in particular beverage cans, has increased rapidly over recent years as garbage disposal has become a greater problem and recycling has become economically feasible. Since beverage cans occupy a relatively large volume with relatively little weight, handling of cans can be eased by compacting the cans. To further increase ease of handling and to aid in automated handling of cans for recycling, it is advantageous to crush each can into substantially the same shape. So that the crushed cans may be baled, the cans should be crushed so that they are flattened from the sides rather than smashed downward from the top to obtain a flatter can. It has been found that cans crushed from the top have more of a ball-type shape and are more difficult to handle by automated machinery than side-flattened cans.
As the need for crushed cans has increased, devices for crushing the cans have been developed. Prior art beverage crushers as represented by U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,117 to Ramos, utilizes a pair of rollers to crush cans. The rollers in the Ramos patent have crushing teeth and pins to puncture cans to let any remaining liquids escape from the can for reducing pressure prior to crushing. However, the rollers of the Ramos patent do not achieve a repeatable crushed can shape with each can. The teeth of the rollers are not opposed and are intermeshing so that the shape of the final crushed can will vary from can to can.
It can be seen then that a can crusher is needed which crushes cans in a repeatable flattened shape and which leaves the crushed can intact for recycling. It can also be seen that a crushing device is needed which is tripped by cans being fed to the crusher rollers and which rotates the rollers until all cans which are fed into the crusher are crushed.